1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine stop control system for a vehicle in which when a predetermined condition is established during an idling operation, an engine is stopped to reduce the amount of fuel consumed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional vehicle using an engine as a traveling drive source suffers from a problem in that the engine once started is not stopped unless a driver turns an ignition switch off and for this reason, the wasteful idling operation of the engine is continued for a signal-waiting period, for example, thereby consuming fuel wastefully. To avoid this, the driver may turn the ignition switch off to stop the engine every time the vehicle is stopped. In this case, however, the driver must repeatedly carry out the starting and the stopping of the engine and hence, such operation is extremely troublesome.
Therefore, in a commercially available vehicle including a manual transmission mounted therein, an engine is stopped automatically after a lapse of 1 to 2 seconds from the stoppage of the vehicle. If the depression of a clutch pedal from this state is detected, the engine is restarted automatically, thereby providing a reduction in the amount of fuel consumed.
In the conventional vehicle, however, the engine is stopped only for a period from a time point after the lapse of 1 to 2 seconds from the stopping of the vehicle to a time point of the depression of the clutch pedal. Therefore, to further reduce the amount of fuel consumed, it is desired that the time of stoppage of the engine is prolonged as much as possible in a range in which the operability of the vehicle is not diminished.
If the engine is turned off upon stopping of the vehicle and then restarted upon starting of the vehicle, as described above, the following problem is encountered: When the stopping and starting of the vehicle are repeatedly carried out at short time intervals on a road in which there is a traffic jam, the stopping and restarting of the engine are carried out frequently and hence, the driver may become irritated.